Most Read
Most E-mailed
Print ArticleFEATURE STORY
TEXT BY SUSAN SCHECK • IMAGES BY PATRICK DEMARCHELIER
French-born fashion and portrait photographer Patrick
Demarchelier has become a legend in his own time . . . and in many
lands. His ad and celebrity images are recognizable at once for
their casual, realistic, and playful qualities, hallmarks of a
style he developed in the late 1960s.
A master of light's subtleties, he enhances a subject's beauty and
naturalness, using it to great advantage in his portrait
photography.
Early in his career, Demarchelier became assistant to Hans Feurer,
a leading fashion photographer. Eventually, he began shooting for
Elle, Marie-Claire, and other magazines. In 1975, he moved
to New York City, where he drew steady assignments for Glamour,
GQ, Mademoiselle, Rolling Stone, and Vogue.
In 1992, Demarchelier began a long-term collaboration with
Harper's Bazaar, becoming the magazine's premier
photographer. In fact, when Studio Photography &
Design caught up with the photographer, he was on his way to
Europe for another Harper's Bazaar shoot.
His regular clients include such fashion notables as Banana
Republic, Celine, Christian Dior, perfumier Guerlain (maker of
Samsara and Shalimar), and Louis Vuitton.
THE LIGHT TOUCH
A large part of Demarchelier's magic derives from his ability to
ease models into a relaxed mode, encouraging them to display the
emotions required for a particular campaign.
"I shoot each person in different lighting," he says. "I look at
the face to get the correct lighting; one type of lighting will
work for one person and not another. Lighting helps to bring the
character out."
The photographer uses large, atmospheric spaces, such as in the
Louis Vuitton ads, to get the effect he's looking for. He favors
these open, airy, and often natural spaces to invoke a feeling of
casualness in his work.
Wendell Maruyama, the photographer's studio manager, assists
Demarchelier with subtleties of lighting in the studio, as well as
scheduling all aspects of the shoot.
Demarchelier relies on a Mamiya RZ67 Pro II; a Pentax 67II and 645;
a Hasselblad 553ELX; a Nikon F5; and a Deardorff 8x10 and a Linhoff
Technika 4x5, depending on the image and mood he wants to
create.
"The camera helps you decide what you want to do—each gives
you a different feeling," the photographer says. Using a certain
camera depends on the situation, especially the
lighting—indoor with strobes, for instance, or outside in
daylight—and on the subject. It's all a matter of
preference.
For now, "digital is not a big part of the production process,
though it is clearly the future for much of the industry," the
shooter says.
"The quality is not what I want yet. Digital has made huge advances
in the past few years, but it is still not fully developed. I know
what a piece of film can give me, be it a magazine or a giant
exhibition print. Also, the capture rate is still too limiting for,
say, a girl running down the beach."
HEAD SHOTS
The photographer often works his celebrity portraits in black and
while (see cover shots of Princess Diana and Leonardo DiCaprio). He
focuses on the head and crops tightly around the shoulder line,
bringing the hands into view on occasion as an expressive
feature.
|
